More NASCAR Silly Season dominoes fall: Daniel Hemric to Childress, Ryan Preece to JTG Daugherty

Sometimes Silly Season moves happen quickly, which was the case with the open seats at RCR and JTG Daugherty Racing.

Much of the movement in the current NASCAR Silly Season to date has centered on veteran NASCAR Cup Series drivers, but Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece will both get their shots to race full-time at the top level in 2019.

Announcements for both drivers came on Friday, confirming some already strong rumors. Hemric was revealed as the new driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, replacing Ryan Newman, who left to take over the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing next year. Preece got the call to take over the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet after the team announced earlier this week that it was parting ways with AJ Allmendinger after the season.

Both 27-year-old drivers took very different paths to reach the Cup Series, though with a common denominator of impressing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this year. Hemric ran full-time for two years in the Truck Series before moving up and racing for RCR in 2017 and 2018. While he has no wins at that level, he made the playoffs both seasons and turned in a number of top-three finishes in equipment that is most properly viewed as a half-step down from the top contenders.

Preece, on the other hand, made the most of his chances to drive in the best stuff in the XFINITY Series, parlaying 13 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing into two wins and eight top-five finishes. He’s continued to run on the Whelen Modified Tour while doing so, racking up wins and building up a solid grassroots following.

Missing from both press releases is sponsor information, which could be an important part of why they got hired. Caterpillar is expected to stay with the 31 in some capacity, but Hemric will undoubtedly need other companies to fill out his car for 2019. Preece’s car has been sponsored most weeks by Kroger the last few years when Allmendinger drove it, so it will be interesting to see if that company’s relationship with the team continues.

There’s also a question of expectations. Newman drove the 31 to a win as recently as last season, but the fact that Hemric never won an XFINITY Series race is likely to linger around him at the Cup Series level too. The same can’t be said for Preece, who was an eye-opener every time he was in a JGR car — a stark contrast to when he drove the entire season for JD Motorsports in 2016 — but isn’t going to have that same kind of edge in his favor in his new gig.

Still, this part of Silly Season is kind of like spring training is for MLB teams, where everyone is speaking optimistically , all parties are happy and everyone is looking forward to what could be. If nothing else, we just got two top candidates for 2019 Rookie of the Year in one day.